Are We in Our Country?

The burst of emotions in the wake of a Hyderabad University student’s death have cast aside the real issue this Nation ought to be debating about.

Back in the 1990s Serial bomb blasts orchestrated by Pakistan in Mumbai through its stooges saw the massacre of about 300 innocent Indians. Yakub Memon, who had a major role in these killings was finally hanged last year after two decades. Even if it was delayed action by two decades, most Indians of all hues from all corners satisfied hailed that justice had been served. But a few minions of Pakistan, some moldy minded pseudo- intellectuals and crooked politicians in India wailed at the top of their voices over his hanging.

In this context Hyderabad Central University attracted the attention of the country for the protests staged by the fans of Yakub Memon in the university. Islamic Prayers for him were held and placards were displayed with an unambiguous threat -“if one Yakbt Memon is hanged every house will have a Yakub Memon” leaving witnesses to this perversity on campus dumbfounded. The incident motivated a student from the same university to raise his nationalistic voice in protest over this seditious perversity on campus. When this student raised his voice in protest he did not block the actions of this Yakub Memon fanclub. With his protest he did not assault any one. Nor did he rebuke any specific individual by name. He merely wrote on his face book page, that it was wrong to have this barbaric support in the university for a terrorist, making his own choice of words. There was nothing objectionable in what he wrote. If a terrorist, traitor can be supported and praised by a group of students, why should this student have not exercised his freedom of expression to say it was wrong and to have questioned their actions in a benign manner ?

But the Yakub Memon fan club did not quite think so when it came to respecting that student’s right to free speech. With an arrogant attitude reeking of the sentiment on “who are you to fault us” about thirty of them attacked the student at midnight in his room, beat him up. In the context of this incident it is immaterial how severe the assault was. It is a fact that he was dragged to the security post at the gate and forced to write an apology letter. Even those who were opposed to the student who took to facebook, had witnessed this incident and have corroborated this sequence of events that he was forcibly made to remove his comments from Facebook.

Was this not a case of high-handedness ?

It is understandable if this incident had happened in Hyderabad in Pakistan for we could have rationalized that the state of affairs and the sentiments of the people of that country are radically different from ours.

But don’t we have the freedom to have nationalist views in a university in our own country?

Are the human rights and constitutional rights meant only for those with anti-nationalist views, and not for those with nationalist views?

The student who was attacked was from an ordinary family belonging to a backward class in Telangana. Yes the same backward class for which our so called intellectuals untiringly demand ‘social justice’ day in and day out. The victim’s mother demanded justice for her son standing at the “threshold” of the university. The student bullies in the university blocked her demands for Justice. Left with no other option, She then went to court. The Court asked an explanation of the University which consequently resulted in the suspension of five students from the hostels. When protests were going on against the suspensions, a student committed suicide.

Since then the university attracted the attention of the country. People have been taking about events before and after the death of the students. There is no need to belittle any one’s sentiments or emotional expressions. The merits and demerits of those arguments are not at all a point of debate.

The father and grandmother of the student who died are confirming that they belong to a caste called ‘vaddera’, part of backward castes. So the deceased student cannot be described as a Dalit. Present portrayal of the death of the student as the Death of Dalit scholar is clearly misleading and inaccurate.

Even if Rohit was not a Dalit, it is not appropriate to say that the brewing agitation isnot about the injustice to Dalits. In Hyderabad Central university Dalit students and faculty have the same agony about facing the social inequality, dissatisfaction, just like other Dalits in India. There is a responsibility on all well-wishers of society to understand these feelings with sympathy and express solidarity to remove their mental agony. There are many reasons for the accumulation of impatience and dissatisfaction among Dalits. There could be many mistakes and inappropriate actions by university too. The manner in which Dalit students were suspended is suspicious. All these matters should be investigated thoroughly. Culprits, whoever they may be should be punished. The non-peaceful atmosphere prevailing in the university campus and the undesirable developments must be stopped.

There is no doubt about it.

But there is one question to the common man who has been observing these debates and the recent events.

Aren’t the offensive misdeeds by the fans of Yakub Memon responsible for the present problem ?

What is going on in the university campus is a blatant pretense and deception !

Why nobody is talking about it?

Don’t we have to punish the perpetrators for destroying the scared peace at the university campus?

Don’t we have to have to condemn the attack on the student who questioned these offensive misdeeds?

At a time when Islamic terrorism is spreading worldwide through ISIS, and when some of its agents have been caught in Hyderabad and many other places, and at a time when Pakistan’s direct attack on Pathankot has stunned the country, should we not consider it a serious National Security issue that Institutions of Higher Education have become a haven for terrorist sympathisers ?

If bad practices of university officials are affecting students, they can protest and fight for solutions. They can demand strong action against the officers responsible for the injustice. They can go to any extent, but why drag central ministers in to it? What did they do? If a student union brings to his attention about the fans of Yakub Memon’s offensive misdeeds, is it wrong on part of Central Minister Dattatreya to write a letter to the ministry concerned to investigate the details and stop the antinational activities? Isn’t it his responsibility as a local people representative? What is the relation between the perceived discrimination of Dalit students and Dalit faculty and this antinational activity? Isn’t it an antinational activity to portray a terrorist who is responsible form hundreds of killing as a great soul and organize memorial meeting and demonstrations? Isn’t it the duty of Human Recourses minister to instruct the university to investigate the complaint by the fellow minister and take necessary action? Considering the importance of the matter, is it wrong to enquire periodically after six months about the status? How can that be pressurizing to take inappropriate decisions? Is there proof to show that the minister asked to take specific action against a specific individual ? If that is not the case, why taunt the central minister. When the entire episode is portrayed wrongly as injustice against Dalits, in what way is it wrong if the minister mentioned that it was not a problem between Dalit and non-Dalits?

If the student who died wrote a note clearly stating that no one was responsible for his death and had asked that nobody be bothered over his death what kind of logic it is to allege the central ministers are responsible for his death and to press for the inclusion of their names in the FIR and demand their resignation ?

The student who committed suicide was not a coward. He was a brave hero to his cause for he had declared that he would tear away saffron flag and that he hated ABVP, RSS and Hinduism. He was also a wise man who had determined that Swami Vivekananda was a pseudo intellectual. Such a person was unlikely to be intimidated by reminders to the university from ministry and be disenchanted with life. It is hard to believe tha he would decide to stop his just fight, abandon the movement that was going on and commit suicide abruptly. We can’t assume that Smriti Irani or Bandaru Dattatrya came in an invisible form to put a noose to his neck.

So there must be a strong reason behind his death. What is it?

‘ASA , SFI anything and everything exists for its own sake. Seldom the interest of a person and the organizations match’. (ASA- Ambedkar Student Association, SFI – Student Federation of India). This is what Rohit is supposed to have written in his suicide note and struck them out.

“HYDERABAD: Was it a growing sense of disconnect with the activities of student unions on campus, including that of the Ambedkar Students’ Association (ASA), that ultimately drove Rohith Vemula to suicide? Possibly yes, if the struck-off lines in the 26-year-old dalit student’s suicide note are closely analysed.

The portion of the note that Vemula, perhaps on second thoughts, decided to keep concealed, reads: “ASA, SFI, anything and everything exist for their own sake. Seldom the interest of a person and these organisations match. To get power or to become famous or to be important in between boundaries and to think we are up to changing the system, very often we overestimate our acts and find solace in traits. Of course I must give my credit to these both groups for making introducing me to wonderful literature and people. (sic)”

When the student union is demanding the inclusion of the two central minister’s names in FIR, shouldn’t there be an enquiry of the student union’s role in the suicide note mentioned by Rohit?

Did Smriti Irani come down from the skies sky and take away the sim? Shouldn’t there be a thorough investigation on all the doubts about the suicide? Should we punish people as desired by the student unions even before the investigation?

Kejriwal may have several issues and hostilities with Smriti Irani in Delhi politics. He may have seen the Hyderabad university issue as a good opportunity to express his acrimony against her and Modi government, his enemy. Part time politician Rahul Gandhi may want to bring down Modi government before goes to jail in National Herald case and get political power back. Other political powers, who were ‘impatient ‘before Bihar elections may want to bury BJP in the coming election in the state. So there is nothing wrong in the thinking of all those who are excited to get political mileage from this student’s tragic death. Whatever may be the plans of the political vultures waiting for opportunity to bring down Modi government, why should they use the university students and student unions as pawns in their political games? Is it appropriate to demand for annulling suspension of students and removing the central ministers without investigation? Do university agitators determine who should be the ministers in the central government?

We do not know what turn Hyderabad central university matter may take. Also we do not know how it will end. But if writing a letter by a minster to another minister requesting to stop the anti-national activities is a crime punishable under SC, ST Atrocity act while praising a Pakistan sponsored terrorist is considered legitimate dissent – Where will this thinking trend take us to? The situation begs the question – Are we still living in our own country ?